A Change of Pace
by pyro-rocketeer
Summary: "But perhaps you should consider a change of jobs? Maybe teaching genin." Minato tells Sakura. "There's a position open." In which Sakura becomes a sensei. And her genin, Kakashi, Rin and Obito, are about to get a lesson on earthquakes. One-shot. Fluffy. Age-swap AU (or is it?)


**I own nothing.**

A/N: Hey lovelies. I took a 500 word drabble from my tomblr and turned it into 2.5k word story. I'm hella tired and will probably nap after this. See, I don't usually post these kinds of stories on FFN, I post them on AO3.

It's very short, more like feels like the beginning of something more concrete (so I'm not making any promises but...), and it's such disgusting fluff. I love it.

I hope you like it.

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Most people either fear or envy her.

She was found on the village borders by the Third himself, and he brought her into the village. All Sakura remembers is her last name.

" _Sakura Haruno."_ She repeated it over to a very confused Ibiki. She didn't know why she repeated it. "Haruno Sakura."

Neither she nor Ibiki remember how she became his adopted daughter. All she remembered falling asleep on one of the T&I sofas after the interrogation. When she woke up, she was in a scented guest bedroom, and there was a plate of toast and eggs beside her. He even poured her orange juice.

Ibiki never said anything. He just said that she had to watch herself, keep clean and not give him a headache. He was a simple man with simple needs.

Sakura got some stares, on her first day at the academy, when Ibiki picked her up.

Sakura didn't stay long at the academy.

She graduated from her academy exams when she was 5, became a chuunin when she was 10, Jounin when she was 12, and finally she got inducted into ANBU when she was 14.

By now, most people thought Ibiki had something to do with it. He was ANBU head after all. Silly rumours flew of how she was supposedly bred by Ibiki as a weapon of mass destruction or something.

However, Sakura will tell you, Ibiki didn't have a _thing_ to do with her. He mussed her hair and said "good stuff, kid." He rebuffed her interest in taking the ANBU exams for a whole year.

Then he agrees on her birthday.

She passes with flying colors.

That's where she meets Hatake-taichou and his insufferable teammate, Namikaze Minato.

"BfttHAHAHA~" Sakumo Hatake barks. Minato slaps the back of the man's head, "Sorry, it's just that you're Ibiki's brat! And when he gets drunk, he talks about you all the time of how he's such a proud papa."

Sakura blinked.

"Yeah!" Minato gives her a thumbs up. "You are famous!"

"I have a wee one who is your age," Sakumo interrupts Minato. He gestures to the ground, "He's really smart and really bratty and he's adorable."

"Oh boy," Minato mutters, "Here he goes again."

"—have you seen him? His name is Kakashi."

Sakura shakes her head.

"Oh no! Let me tell you _all_ about him—"

By the end of her first meeting, Sakura had learned about 'little' Kakashi Hatake's favorite foods, his favorite book series, and what he looked like and numerous other useless bits of info. Then Sakumo looked at the time and grinned.

"Oops!" he said. "I need to leave! Dinner will not make itself! Show up for practice tommorow morning sharp at seven!"

And then once he left, Minato smiles at her and says, "He's not that bad, trust me. My name is Minato, by the way."

"I know," Sakura says.

"You…know?"

"Ibiki-san has information on all of you," Sakura tells him, "I do my research."

"Oh…" Minato blinks and then his face brightens up, "Ne ne, what do you know about me?"

"You're like me," Sakura tells him, "you graduated early, I mean. You've developed a lot of jutsu for the village. I used some of your jutsu." She casts a sideways glance. "Very useful for teleportation."

Minato nods and smiles. "Glad to be of service."

"You have a girlfriend," she tells him. "She's out of your league."

Twenty-year-old Minato coughs.

" _Ibiki_ notes that?"

"No," she tells him, "It's too tedious to keep track of people's stupid romances. Love is an ambiguous category where foolishness prevails—" He smothers a laugh, because she sounds _so_ much like Ibiki. "—but I stalked you."

Minato goes very still.

"And you didn't notice me stalking you," Sakura continues with a raise of her eyebrow, "so I was very disappointed. A ninja should always be aware of his surroundings. I hope you aren't a liability in the field."

"So do I," Minato squeaks. "Um…what exactly did you…stalk?"

"You took Kushina Uzumaki on a date to a ramen place," Sakura said, "and she paid for both of you, because you had no money. Disappointing. You should pay for your own bowl in the future with me. She eats a lot. You stare at her eating, and your ramen gets cold. Then you drop her off at her home at 10 pm and kiss her good bye. More like she kisses you. I thought you lacked initiative—."

"Uh!" Minato turns bright maroon. "That's enough!"

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

A lot happens in two years.

Within a year, Minato becomes Hokage, Sakumo's kid is ready to have his first genin team, and a war brews on the borders.

Midway, Sakura left ANBU and joins the hospital. She's a top-class medic and enjoys herself thoroughly. Being a ninja, Sakura muses, came easy. Being a medic was harder. Ibiki was confused about her abrupt change, but it doesn't bother him. Sakura was always unusually smart, and she could do whatever she wanted—and still do well.

The hospital was a run-down thing with broken light-bulbs, shattered windows, lack of hygiene, and many harried nurses and doctors.

She was stuck with a chatty girl called Rin Nohara.

"I'm going to be a genin this week," Rin told her, "Oh! Sorry. I keep forgetting to tell people my name. I'm Rin Nohara. Um…sorry, what's your name?"

"Haruno Sakura."

She forgets Rin Nohara's name by the end of the day.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Six months later, Sakura is no longer a rookie. She performs surgeries with accuracy that rivals the best doctors. People envy Sakura. It's never bothered her before in the ninja field. In the hospital? She's given extra work, told to clean this and that, and stay more hours. Sakura always suspects something when the doctors whistle, the nurses hide behind their clipboards, and no one meets her eyes.

"Okay then," she wheels the cart into the patient's room.

She doesn't tell Ibiki. It's an act of mercy for these fools. But Ibiki knows.

And Ibiki does something about it.

"You wanted something?" Sakura asks Minato. She hefts a stack of paper-work on his desk, "from Ibiki. He told me that you want to see me."

"Look." He rests his chin on his hands. "I think, as your Hokage, maybe you should take a break."

"From what?" Her frown pronounces her eye-bags.

"But perhaps you should consider a change of jobs? Maybe teaching genin." He takes a breath. "There's a position open."

"Give it to someone else," she shrugs.

"It's a change of pace," he says. "Kids are cute."

"They are _annoying_."

"They are the future of Konoha."

"I am the _future_ of the medical world!" Sakura snaps at him, "I'd like to aim higher than… _babysitting_ , Minato."

"No doubt," Minato said, "but I think some time away from the Hospital will do you some good."

She opened her mouth to protest. "Mina—"

"I signed you up," he cuts her off.

Sakura musters a slow blink.

"You'll love them," Minato grins. There was an unnerving gleam in his eyes.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Well, she didn't love them.

First there was Obito Uchiha, a very spry, hella noisykid with a small brain (in Sakura's opinion).

"I'm going to be Hokage," he tells her, "I'm going to be number one ninja— _believe_ it. Hey! Hey! Are you ignoring me?"

"No one cares, dead-last," Sakumo's brat mutters.

"What did you _say?"_

They are fourteen. She's sixteen. Sakura wonders if they'll listen to her. She decides that the best approach to take is to display dominance. Ibiki told her that.

She shifts her eyes to the girl.

"You are?"

"Rin Nohara!" she chirps. "Don't you remember me? I worked with you as a medical intern?"

"Ah yes."

She was cute, but by Sakura's standards, she'd be out in less five seconds. Better than Obito—Sakura would kick him out at first glance. Rin clasps her hands and gushes, while her insufferable teammates argue.

"I'm so glad you're our sensei!"

"Pleasure," Sakura tells her and glances at the two other boys, "if you two are done with your lover's quarrel—"

"Lovers—" Obito squawks.

"—Quarrel?" Sakumo's brat howls.

"What's your name?" Sakura asks Sakumo's brat.

"Kakashi," he snaps.

"Noted," her eyes gleam, "I'm Sakura Haruno."

"We know that," Kakashi tells her.

"Yeah!" Obito gushes, "you are like—super-duper cool! Sakura-chan, are you going to teach me some good jutsu? We scared the last sensei off because Bakashi here—"

"I _did_ not do. A. thing. You _pranked_ him."

"You participated—"

"Sakura- _sensei_ ," she grits out.

And both boys freeze.

"The two of you need a lesson in etiquette," she tells them, "twenty push-ups for the next argument."

And thankfully, till the end of the session, Kakashi and Obito don't grate on her ears.

Display dominance, Sakura thinks to herself. Her new genin slog in the heat of the sun with their D-rank mission ( _"we_ should be able to take _A_ -rank!" Obito pants and Rin and Kakashi scowl at him, " _Who's_ fault is it—"), weeding.

She heaves a satisfied sigh and smiles.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

It's like a twist of fate.

She manages to escape one insufferable Hatake, only to run into the other one. Both of them set her at edge and make her want to punch a building to smithereens.

"Awhh." Sakumo piped up, as he clapped Kakashi's shoulder. "You'll be taking care of my Kakashi, yes? I hope he's not a handful Sakura-chan! You know—"

"Taichou," Sakura tells him, "I need to leave."

"Ah yes yes, you are so very busy! But please stay for dinner!" Sakura glances at Hatake Kakashi. "I've been trying this new recipe." Kakashi scowls at her while his father babbles. "And you'll love it!"

If it annoys Hatake Kakashi. She'll do it. She smirks.

During dinner, he refuses to hear her when she asks him to pass the bowl. She instead, gives him a hard kick under the table. He dodges her aimed kick.

Sakura narrows her eyes.

The brat, in Sakura's humble opinion, needed to get his ass kicked and his attitude in order. He meets her gaze with a haughty scoff. Sakura-sensei is _not_ amused.

But Sakumo Hatake is.

"Look at you two… _bonding_." He winks. "I think you two will get along just fine!"

Sakura and Kakashi send him matching scowls.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

So she left them to answer a call with another team in the area.

Their mission spiralled into chaos. Obito got kidnapped. Rin and Kakashi went for him. They fought their way through, two Iwa-nin, three—and they managed to incapacitate them. Rin went to save Obito.

Kakashi stayed behind to cover her. He fought valiantly against two jounin.

Things didn't go as planned. They forgot the last Iwa-nin. He put his hands to the rock.

"Goodbye sweet Konoha children," he licks his lips.

Kakashi's eyes widen. He grabs Rin and Obito. They fly towards the entrance of the cave.

"Kakashi!" Obito reaches for his hand and pulls him away from the fall. Instead, he is right under the huge boulder.

A second away.

Then Sakura-sensei flies in and smashes her fist against the boulder. Debris and rock spray over them.

She then twists around and catches a huge boulder, which threatens to roll on them, with her two hands. Kakashi and Rin salvages Obito.

"Get out," she grits out through her teeth. Kakashi and Rin were hesitant.

Her feet draws back, and the pressure builds from the other rocks piling up. The Iwa-nin is escaping. Sakura won't let him get away. But she glances back at the trio.

"Now," she snaps.

Kakashi and Rin pull Obito away, and they flash towards the treeline and run till they hit the tree-line. They hesitate to go further and watch.

Then they hear a bang.

Her fist splits through the rocks. Her foot stomps the ground. The ground shivers and bursts. The trees around her tremble. They watch with wide eyes as the landscape rips open, and the rocks fill the large gaping crevice. Sakura flashes forward.

She dodges and dances around the falling rocks, smoke, dust and bears on towards the stumbling Iwa-nin.

She knocks him out.

One second, she was there.

Kakashi held his breath. Then a shift of breeze kisses his skin.

The next, she is beside them. The Iwa-nin slumps beside them. She ties his wrists with her chakra strings.

"Watch him," she tells Rin and Kakashi. They swallowed and nodded. Both of them glanced at each other and then at the ruined landscape.

Sakura reaches for Obito's face and gently caresses the cuts. A warm green glow bathes her fingers.

"Sakura-sensei!" Rin begins, "Is he—"

"Don't—" They flinch. She looks up at them with flickering embers in her eyes—a wisp of a tear—and a worried frown. "—ever scare me like that again, okay?"

They all nod, including a very groggy Obito.

"But I'm so proud of you guys." She grips him steadily.

Rin and Kakashi relax. The Iwa-nin is still knocked out. Sakura-sensei was here, and everything was going to be okay. Everything.

Maybe it was the green glow of her fingers as she moves over Obito's torn skin, or maybe it was the glow of the twilight over her hair—but Rin and Kakashi forgot to breathe—or maybe it was because she smiled for the first time.

Sakura-sensei never smiles.

"It w-was n-nothing," Rin stutters.

"Y-y-yes," Kakashi mumbles and stares at the ground, "we'll t-try better next time."

"Sakura-sensei…" Obito mumbles, "you came to rescue us…." He curls into the glow of her hands, and she smiles fondly. "Please…don't go away."

 **.**

 **.**

After she gives him a comprehensive report about the Iwa nin—most of which Minato glazes over—he asks her questions.

"Sooo," Minato grins smugly, "how are the three—what was it you referred to them as— _hellions_?"

Sakura scowls at him.

"Hmmph. Tolerable." The wall was more interesting than her Hokage's face. "I don't…mind them…"

Minato couldn't wait to get home and tell Kushina all about it. She probably gets a kick out of Minato's "Sakura-chan" stories.

He grins wider.

" _What?"_ she bristles.

Minato throws his head back and laughs.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

"So…" Sakumo stirs the soup. "How's Sakura-chan?"

Kakashi doesn't answer. He flips the page. But his ears are redder than Rin's sweater. Rin blushes.

"She's the best!" Obito blubbers. "Like _so_ cool that even Bakashi couldn't even stop staring at her. I mean she went boom and _pow_ and the ground shook and it was _so_ cool! Then she saves us and then she smiled at us for the first time. I thought I was going to be in sooo much trouble but she's all cool-like and said, 'I'm so proud of you, Obito.'"

Rin nods and Kakashi says, "Hmmph. She's okay, I guess."

And Sakumo's jaw shutters, and he squeals. He puts sugar instead of salt into the steaming soup.

 _Thank you for reading!_


End file.
